Doug Jones and Javier Botet are the Crimson Peak ghosts. It’s like half of The Beatles of ghosts. And their skills are so different. Literally, the way they perform, the characters are so different, one from the other. For me, or those that like Doug, there’s Dougie moves that you immediately go, That’s a Dougie move. It’s like ice skaters, like figure skaters. You go, Oh, he did a triple. You identify certain moves. Javier is the same. Once you know his style, there are certain Javier moves.
There is a monster shop on set, but its hidden. It’s super hidden My relationship with the monster shops is to go everyday. Everyday I check them What is great about this studio is that I can come to the office, I have the art department around me and I have Tom over there, wardrobe there, and makeup. I can do everything everyday.
Crimson Peak is del Toros kinkiest film yet. But he admits, Well, the bar is very low there It has some kink in it and it has a few scenes of violence that are pretty shocking Its not by any means a Nymphomaniac with ghosts [laughs.]
There are no cell phones on the Crimson Peak set. I like it without cell phones because when youre looking at a normal set nowadays, everybody is doing this. [Mimics typing on a cell phone.] I literally see them miss a cue or a spot or not paying attention. And it starts with me. I dont turn on the cell phone. I actually forget to charge it. I forget to charge it for days. If someone is caught on set using a cell phone, The charge is $5 Today is $5 Friday, so we raffle. The crew puts $5 and their name, and then I put $500 to beef the pot up and then the second prize for those who lose is the cellphone money.
Is there any chance the film could get a 3D post-conversion? No. I would love to convert it. I had a great time converting Pac Rim, but I literally asked, Are we going to convert this so I can shoot it without the elements that were difficult in Pac Rim, like steam and rain. I would leave that for post. And I was told, no, not really. So, if they want 3D, we are, from when I finish, when I deliver, theres a year, so I can absolutely post convert it carefully because to convert it properly, you need more than 400 days.
Del Toro edits as he shoots. Were edited to the day. Today I edited yesterday so the movie, if you watched it right now, you would have 60 minutes of film.
Del Toro is actually working on The Strain while he shoots Crimson Peak. Im still supervising the VFX shots on The Strain every day, to this day. It’s Mr. X, so it’s not that difficult, but I asked Carlton [Cuse] to stay involved in the color correcting on the episodes and the VFX, and I react to the dailies … I have, so far, shot a couple of times Saturday unit where I go and shoot additional pieces for them. If the director’s not available, I go in and shoot that or go with the second unit director and walk the set with him in the morning. I go as far as to put blood there’s a scene where theres a bunch of bloody handprints; it’s mine. I walk the scene and all that. And its like, literally, you take a vacation for a few hours every day. It’s literally like an exhalation. It doesn’t make it more complicated; it makes it more fun. Then you go back to what you’re doing and you see it differently.
Whats del Toro got coming up? Thomas [Tull and I], were developing Pac Rim 2, we’re developing a bunch of stuff to go with that, Im busy with The Strain, I know I have a small movie next year because Im gonna to finance it myself. [Laughs] So I know that and thats about it.
Will he skew Pacific Rim 2 towards the international crowd because the first film did so well at the foreign box office? Well, we were doing that anyway because it was an international movie. We have Mako, we have Pentecost, we had the Chinese brothers, we have the Australians, so, you know, all you do is bring different countries in different ways. I have two Mexicans now. [Laughs] So I like that. Im writing two Mexicans.
Frankenstein is del Toros dream project. I would love to do Frankenstein and Bride, or Frankenstein for sure, but it really, Frankenstein has been – I’ve been really, really, afraid. Donna [Langley] has approached me a few times to start it now and I’m always like, you know, it’s like the dream project so I’m a little – I’m a chicken sh*t, you know? When I do it, I need to do it. Like, if I do Frankenstein, I literally would stop everything, and Im going to a sabbatical of three years, just to write that. It’s not something thats gonna just flow, like second nature. It’s my favorite book in history. [Laughs]
Does del Toro ever sleep? Very little. Four hours. The other day I slept eight, and I like it! [Laughs] I understand it now. Like I go, Thats why people do it. It was really good.
Stay tuned for more from our Crimson Peak set visit as we near the films October 16, 2015 release.
(Photo Copyright: WENN.com)
